Wuthering Heights Chapter 34 Summary

Heathcliff leaves the house all night. When he returns, Cathy reports that he has a "different" look on his face. When Nelly sees him, he has a "strange joyful glitter in his eyes" (34.12).

Heathcliff wanders around the garden in a rare good mood. Nelly tries to get to the bottom of it but he refuses to give her any details, only telling her that heaven is in sight.

Heathcliff starts acting really creepy, staring out of windows and looking, Nelly says, like a "goblin." He goes to spend the night in the oak-paneled bed, and Nelly wonders, "Is he a ghoul, or a vampire?" (34.46). After all, no one ever really knew where Heathcliff came from, and he only has the one name, which will look strange on his headstone.

Heathcliff tells Nelly to summon the lawyer, Mr. Green. It's time to write his will and decide how to leave his property. He reminds Nelly that he made a deal with the sexton to be buried next to Catherine.

Having forced her way into his room, Nelly finds Heathcliff dead, rain pouring down on him from the open window. His eyes are wide open and he has a grimace on his face, his teeth sneering. Nelly cannot close his eyes.

They bury him next to Catherine. The country folk in the region all claim that "he walks. There are those who speak to having met him near the church, and on the moor, and even within this house" (34.99). Some have even seen him wandering about with Catherine.

Cathy and Hareton return from their walk, and Lockwood leaves. As he walks home, he passes the three headstones – those of Edgar, Catherine, and Heathcliff.